The restoration of Composite 412

Composite No.412 (LT 516) was built by Cravens in 1900, because the Ashbury works was at full capacity, and so part of the order had to be placed elsewhere. The first class had been down-graded in 1940, involving removal of the folding arm-rests, which have now been reinstated.

Composite No.412 is seen here in 1992, as cosmetically restored for filming work.

This was the last of the four coaches to return to traffic, in December 2006. Initially, whilst restoring the other three vehicles, we removed its bogies and wheels, giving us a spare set to overhaul. With "miners rot" present within the roof of this vehicle, this had to be stripped off and replaced with new timber, in the same way as the other three coaches in the set.

In mid-1999 an overhauled bogie was placed under the vehicle, enabling it to be shunted within the shed for the first time for many years. With work completed on 368 in May 2002, this carriage (No.412) became the main focus of attention, and many components were already made or overhauled ready for fitting. The carriage received three new partitions and new ceilings. Final fitting out of the interior, exterior lettering and the remaining work on the underframe and one bogie was completed during 2006.